Attention seniors! Need advice

[abitjaded]

My mother, who is 84 and kind of rickety, will be along on the seven day cruise, Eastern Carib. Any suggestions as to which excursions in St. Thomas and St M's would be best? She needs a minimal amount of walking, mostly bus and sightseeing kind of things or easily accessable beaches to the bus stop. If we were to grab a cab to Red Hook and Ferry to St John, how much walking would this entail to get to a good beach? We would love to go to the National Park, the rest of us are snorkel fanatics, have seen the beaches at St Thomas, but never St John. Doable? Or is there a perfect excursion to keep her busy and us snorkeling.

Are there loaner wheel chairs on the boat as at the parks? Sometimes she does great, but sometimes wears out quickly. Is it possible to rent a wheel-chair for the whole week just in case? I noticed there are sand wheel chairs at CC. Are these at a premium, must we be first in line to get one?

Any other tips are welcome.

Carla

 

[firemanmark]

My 71 y/o father needed a wheelchair. For in the park, we rented one from Walker Medical Supply for the week. This worked out better than hoping a 'loaner" would be available at the park. Most busses are have wheelchair lifts so transportation wasn't a problem.

The ships do not have "loaners". We rented a wheelchair for the cruise portion from Brevard County Medical Equipment. They had the chair delivered and waiting for us at the port, and we just left it at the port after the cruise.

If your mother definitely is going to need a wheelchair on the ship, then get one. Well worth it. However, if you do go this route also make sure you get her a handicap accessible room for her. You will need a medical form filled out and sent to DCL (call them for this info). A wheelchair won't fit so well in regular cabins unless it is folded up. Plus the handicap rails in the bathroom of the handicap cabin was surely needed (especially on a moving ship).

Finally, when at CC go off the ship early and grab one of those large wheel-wheelchairs right away, return to the tram stop or the ship for your mother. They navigate well in the sand, and can even roll into the water.

My parents did not do any of the excursions off the ship, except for at CC, so I can't help you their. Any more ???, just ask.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aprilgail2]

When I called Disney regarding the sand wheelchairs they told me to wheel him right to the wheelchair place in hs regular wheelchair, leave that one there and take him from that point in the sand wheelchair so I would not have to go back and forth to the ship for him...and when I return the sand chair his will be here waiting for him.

 

[chickabug]

Hi - I'm taking my 80 yr. old mother on the 4/20 7 day cruise and have many of the same concerns as you!!!! If you are sailing after us, I will give you an update when we get back - also saw a posting 2 or 3 weeks ago by Aurora3 regarging taking her 81 yr. old grandmother (she wasn't so much concerned about mobility - had a passport issue!) - on the March 9th cruise - she was kind enough to e-mail me today to let me know how things went with her GM (who sounds more mobile than my mother!). Will try sending you a personal message with my e-mail and then if you e-mail me back I will forward her e-mail. Nancy

 

[abitjaded]

Dear Chikabug,

Yes, I would love to hear your experiences. My Mom could be in any kind of shape. She has osteoporosis, broke a leg, was using a walker, recovered, got more stress fractures in her spine, is recovering... So at any rate we do not know what to expect. She could be great and very mobile or... But how do I get you directly. Have done a lot over the years at RADP but new to this.

Carla

 

[atigeg]

The information on the sand wheelchairs is correct. On our Magic trip last year, my knee cap popped off while dancing at the 70s party, and I was in a full-length cast 9and thus a wheelchair) for the remainder of the cruise. Guest Services loaned us a wheelchair for onboard use, and we simply left it at the designated point on CC and picked up the sand wheelchair. Those work good, but they are a little hard to push...poor hubby got a workout! But mobile or not, I wasn't about to miss a day on Castaway Cay!
Barb
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